Touch of Winter
by unifilar
Summary: During an exceedingly cold mission, Abby knows how to keep warm.  Nigel/Abby


**Author's Note: I feel like this fandom hasn't been touched in ages, but I was thinking about them the other day and how I'm still very much in love with Nigel/Abby. I hope I still remembered how to write them; let me know if it seems otherwise. The winter season always inspires me, so I'll probably be writing more. Enjoy!**

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Abby rubbed her mittened hands together, her cloudy breath drifting over Nigel's face, causing him to crinkle his nose.

"Numbuh 5, can you not breathe in my face? It's fogging my glasses."

"Well, excuse me. Numbuh 5 will just have to watch where she breathes from now on." She turned away, the bitter wind clawing at her exposed face. Gritting her teeth, she wished for the umpteenth time that they had been assigned a mission at the Hawaiian KND Base and not the Arctic one. Snow billowed around them, swirling and curling, and it would have almost been pretty if it wasn't so darn cold. Abby pulled back her coat sleeve to check the temperature gauge on her wrist. Negative thirty degrees?

"Polar bears couldn't survive here!" Abby said, irritated that they were expected to not only exist in this weather but to execute a mission. Nigel glanced up at her, and she normally would be able to see his eyes over the rim of his glasses, but the raging snow was currently obscuring her vision.

"You're right. If we stay out here much longer, we'll catch hypothermia," Nigel said, and Abby nodded gratefully even though he was stating the obvious. "Let's finish up this last circuit, and we'll head inside."

"Thank goodness," Abby sighed, relief warming her mind with its comfort. Nigel turned back to the electrical box that they had been sent to fix. Normally, it would be a job for a lowly worker at the Arctic Base, but Nigel and Abby had happened to be visiting to interrogate a recently incarcerated teenager (which ended up being fruitless as the teenager had no information for them, so Nigel had already been in a foul mood) when they bumped into Numbuh 86, who took great pleasure in assigning Nigel a last-minute remedial task before he left. Abby had joined him out of loyalty, but now a part of her wished that she had stayed behind with Fanny instead. She could have her hands cupped around a mug of hot chocolate right now, the steam tickling her nose as it carried the enticing scent of cocoa along with it.

Abby stopped the daydream before her mouth could begin to water.

"Done," Nigel announced, his own relief undeniable. He closed the metal door to the circuits and gestured to Abby. "Come on, we'll warm up in the storage igloo and take one of the S.K.E.E.B.I.K.E.s back."

Abby approved of this plan and shuffled closely after Nigel as he made his way to the igloo in question. The icy gales attempted to keep the KND agents at bay, but eventually the pair rushed through the entrance of the storage unit and closed it promptly behind them, not about to let their one warm haven be contaminated with the tortuous touch of the cold.

Without realizing it, they had lost their breath in the trek to the igloo, and they both leaned against one of the icy walls to rest. Nigel lowered the scarf that had been wrapped around his face, his cheeks a deep, rosy shade. Abby believed she had never seem his face with so much color on it, which was impressive, considering she has always been there where Lizzie's antics made him blush like crazy. While Abby found herself warm within a few minutes, she noticed Nigel was still shivering, the sound of his teeth chattering highly disconcerting. She frowned, wanting to speed along the heating process for him.

"Here, Boss," she said, moving in front of him. Nigel quirked a brow in confusion as he watched her take off her mittens and begin rubbing her hands together at a rapid speed.

"Numbuh 5, what are you...?"

"Shush, Numbuh 1. Numbuh 5 saw her dad do it one time."

After a moment more of building friction, Abby swiftly placed her hands on Nigel's cheeks, cupping his face in her firm grip. The jolt of heat sent a tingling sensation down Nigel's spine, and he instantly felt enveloped by warmth. The feeling swept to his forehead and then down to his neck, and Abby's steady hold halted his clattering teeth. He smiled, thankful for Abby's practicality and clever thinking.

"Thanks, Numbuh 5, but your cheeks are kinda red too," Nigel observed, much to Abby's chagrin.

She was not cold anymore, but a profound blush had set in as Abby remembered exactly where she had seen this gesture before. Her father had done the same exact thing right before kissing her mother one snowy evening. They had just finished building the family snowman, and she and Cree were engaging in a snowball fight of epic proportions near the street. Abby had glanced over to her parents just in time to see the intimate moment. She had thought it disgusting at the time, but the image had subconsciously stuck in her head.

Embarrassed at the accidental sign of affection, Abby resisted the urge to yank her hands back. She reassured herself that she was just warming Numbuh 1's face, that's all. No big deal. He'd do the same for...

"Here, Numbuh 5," he said, taking off his gloves and letting them drop to the floor. Before Abby could stop him, he rubbed his hands together at a speedy rate.

"No, Numbuh 1, it's ok, Numbuh 5 isn't..."

He cut her off, quickly framing her face with his fingers. Something about his touch after realizing the romantic intention made the blush set fire to her skin, but luckily Nigel did not notice because he was bringing heat to her face anyway. His fingers were calloused and had scars from splinter wounds from their 2x4 technology, but he held her face steadily, confidently. By contrast, the skin on his cheeks was so soft it reminded her of the surface of a porcelain teapot she had in her bedroom closet. They were so close, hunched together near the entrance of the igloo, and Abby felt Nigel's hot breath settle right between her eyes.

She crinkled her nose, lowering her hands.

"Can you stop breathing on Numbuh 5's face? Boy, you must've had anchovies for breakfast this morning."

Nigel's peaceful expression vanished in an instant as he pulled back, cupping a hand around his mouth and trying to smell his breath.

"I-I did not!" he protested, but continued to test the aroma. Abby smirked and bent down to pick up his gloves.

"Whatever you say, Boss. Come on, let's get back before all the free hot chocolate is gone," she said, turning away to put on her mittens.

She wiped a hand over her face, trying to erase the ever-present blush.

**END**


End file.
